


Keep Me Closer

by YaoiAddiction



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Denial, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fontcest, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Incest, Injured Characters, M/M, Never written these characters before, Slow Build, Soul Sex?, Temporary Character Death, Underswap!, relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-05-17 19:03:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5882062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YaoiAddiction/pseuds/YaoiAddiction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things might be changing for better or for worse, as a day that usually stays the same goes horribly wrong. Feelings are also unearthed from two lovable characters</p><p>A story where Papyrus is trying so hard to make things okay, and San's is just a confused little marshmallow</p><p>Oh... and angsty...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New Development

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first time ever writing these characters romantically! I love all the stories being posted on these two from any universe or their actual universe... but I can't stand the... uh... other ridiculous stuff sometimes XD 
> 
> Case in point, theres no heat, no magical genitalia, no super duper lusting after each other... I remember when romance was a thing, and I see like around 4 to 5 of those stories actually getting attention! Thought the neglect is mostly in fan fiction~ Glad to see its doing a bit better here
> 
> I'm also so sorry! This has no beta... actually no one has ever beta'd my stories before so I have no clue how that works. I write this as another fan of Undertale (and a sinner) so enjoy~

The house was too quiet for the tall skeleton as he shuffled out of his room. The sun cut through the window and illuminated the colors of the cozy home. After gazing across the living room and yawning he grumbled and made his way down the stairs. 

“Sans? You out there bro?”

Silence met him. Deciding to just wait for the little bundle of energy, Papyrus threw himself down on the couch with a sigh and closed his eyes. Lately the days were dragging on longer and longer. Nothing really seemed to matter anymore in their boring life. A flash of orange flickered across his face as he remembered the last reset. 

“Heh… hopefully the kid is good this time.”

That human had taken and given back so many events and people that he cared about that it started to become emotionally draining. Wanting to snap himself out of thoughts of the past, Papyrus glared at the clock across the room. It was past breakfast when he started to panic. The sounds of the kitchen bustling were absent, sending a shiver down his spine.

’Sans… where are you? You never skip making breakfast…’ 

With resolve to find his missing sibling, Papyrus snapped his fingers and left the house through a shortcut.

XXX

“This is getting ridiculous! Where is he?” 

Across town, no one had seen any sign of the smaller skeleton. The panic started settling in deeper and deeper. The last place he hadn’t visited were the traps they had set outside of Snowdin. Trying not to internally scream, Papyrus ran for the bridge. The exhaustion from teleporting started taking a toll on him, the sweat starting to roll down his skull in heated drops. As he came to cliff, he noticed that the bridge had broken in half. On the other end of the rope tangled and unconscious hung his brother. 

“Sans!” He cried in hysteria, eye blazing orange as he lifted him up from the dangerous cliffside. 

‘This hasn’t ever happened before. Whats going on here? Why are things different now?’ 

The snow parted visibly as he teleported again to pick up his brother. In his hands the little skeleton seemed almost fragile to the point that he might shatter at the slightest touch. Papyrus couldn’t teleport any faster back to their home.

XXX

After making sure that the other sentries would fix the bridge, Papyrus hung up the phone and turned his attention back to the kitchen. With a grumble the taller skeleton took out a pot and poured in some tomato soup. He had never tried to cook anything before. The most he had attempted was to make some golden flower tea when he got the instructions from the voice behind the door. The jokes were fun to exchange and the calm wise vocals of whoever was on the other side always caused him to break out into a sincere grin. The only other monster who could cause that was his brother. 

The cigarette smoke flew into the air in spirals as Papyrus stood in the corner waiting for the tomato soup to start bubbling. Anxious eyes kept darting across the kitchen to the living room where his brother lay. Bundled in blankets, the little guy continued to shiver and whimper at the warmer temperature.

‘Don’t worry bro, I’ll look out for you until you feel better,’ Papyrus promised as he searched for a bowl. After finding nothing but plates, he gave up with another grumble as he grabbed a cup and poured there instead. 

‘I’ll make a mental note to go to the dump to find some bowls and spoons.’ 

Keeping the hot cup steady in his bony hands, Papyrus made his way back to Sans and sat beside the cold figure. 

“Hey bro, I brought you some soup. It looks so hot I might consider dating it.” 

With a small chuckle, he waited for the smaller to groan at his joke. To his astonishment however, Sans cracked his eyes open a fraction and gave a small laugh.

“Nye…heh…. go-od one P-papy…”

The taller skeleton didn’t know what to say. For years his brother had always scolded him for his puns jokes. 

“Sans, you got to drink this for me please? I just want you to get better.” 

Realizing Sans couldn’t sit up, he brought the cup to the other’s teeth so he could drink. A faint blue blush spread across his cheekbones as the warmth brought the others magic circulating again. Taking the cup away, he brought his head to meet Sans to check his temperature. As he started to pull back, he noticed his brother was following his movements. 

“Thanks for… saving me…” 

Eye contact was made, causing the older to freeze in shock. The love and adoration in the younger’s eyes caused his soul to shudder with something indescribable. Papyrus brought up a hand to his brothers head and pat it affectionately.

“Go to sleep and get better. You need to tell me what happened later. Right now you need to get ‘Sans’ sleep.”

At that joke the younger finally let out a groan and laid back down. As soon as he brother was sound asleep Papyrus bolted to his room. Closing the door softly did nothing to reflect the inner turmoil that had blossomed. With a groan he slid to the floor and clutched his hoodie. His soul had reacted in a way that the older knew he shouldn’t be feeling.

“Why is this… happening? I’ve never… I mean I can’t he’s my…” 

The word brother hung in the air, but his soul knew the truth. He had grown so used to the constant world that was his younger brother that he must of attached himself too much. 

“I just have to be safe and play it cool. It’ll go away… eventually… I hope…”


	2. The First Mistake

Pushing the unwelcome feelings aside, he started to make his way out of his disorganized bed only to freeze after two steps in a chilling realization. The day had come for the human to arrive and meet the two brothers. The day that the human would either be covered in dust or stay clean. Everything should of happened yesterday. But nobody had come. 

Time was moving forward. The anomaly had disappeared, so new events were being created in its place. With a quiet sob, Papyrus sunk to the ground and thanked whatever higher entity for the human’s absence. With hope energizing him, he leapt up from where he had fallen and lit a new cigarette before heading out to check his brother again. 

“How are you feeling Sans?”

Papyrus asked as he knelt down to check on his sick sibling. Bright blue eyes gazed up at the taller one, shining with familiar stars. 

“Much better brother! Except… well,” a hand clasped his shirt before continuing. “My left arm hurts a little and my chest feels a little cold?”

Panic clawed again inside Papyrus’ ribcage, but he tried to keep it cool as he moved closer. 

“Its okay bro, as long as you can stay here and ‘chill’ I’ll get you something for your arm so it stays ‘ice’ and cool.” 

“Ugh Papy!!!”

“Hah hah!” Ignoring the metaphorical steam coming out of his brothers nonexistent ears, Papyrus took a deep breath and put on his serious face. 

“We gotta see what’s going on with your soul. It might just be the effect of being outside for too long. We need to make sure. Can you summon it?”

Sans buried himself under the covers in fear, trying not to show his brother his hesitancy. “But…. you told me not to summon my soul unless its an emergency.” 

“This sort of is… just do it for me? The sooner you get better the sooner you can make your tacos for us again.”

Papyrus held back a snicker as he watched his brother’s eyes light up with stars. He knew the quickest way to appease his younger sibling was with his homemade meal. Alphy’s was trying really hard to make sure the food was edible for the two, but the chances of that happening seemed pretty slim. Holding his hands in front of his grey battle shirt, Sans concentrated with eyes closed and breath even as a small light blue soul emerged shining almost white against the colors around it.  
Looking to his older brother for the next step, Sans waited. Papyrus had ceased to move. Eyes grew wide in astonishment and cigarette fell from his open mouth. 

‘Oh my gosh! I’ve never seen his soul before… its so…’

“…beautiful…” he muttered as he leaned in to take a better look. 

“Its cold though,” the little skeleton complained, still waiting for his brother to do something. 

“Can I… hold it closer to me? It might warm up?”

Truthfully he wasn’t even sure if he could touch the soul, but felt like he had to bring it closer. The soul of his sibling was like a shining treasure that needed to be safe and secure. 

“Sure Papy! Here you go!”

Eager to help, he pushed his soul towards the taller skeleton. Not expecting it, Papyrus reached out to wrap it around his arms. It collided with the hoodie and bounced off, only to be pressed back with warm arms. The chill emitted from the tiny heart, slowly disappearing with the help of the cloth surrounding it. The one holding the soul couldn’t believe what he was doing, his own soul threatening to burst with that unnamed feeling. 

‘I can’t believe it! His soul is in my arms. Why haven’t I done this ages ago?’ 

Deciding to break the silence, Papyrus loosened up a tad on the bright life force and stepped on his still burning stick on the ground to prevent a fire. “Hey bro, you seem to really be warming up to me aren’t you?”

“Ahhh~”

The whip lash couldn’t of happened any less as his skull jolted up to his brother at the sound. Sans was grasping his chest, panting uncontrollably while hearts seems to form in his eyes. Gazed and unfocused, the smaller skeleton gave out a whine and tried to get closer. 

“P-p-papy! That feels…. t-t-that f-f-feels amazing!”

Like a burning coal, Papyrus unwrapped his hands and jumped away from the couch, mortification gracing his features. The little soul gravitated to Sans until it reached his chest before disappearing, the sound of despair leaving closed teeth. 

“It felt like… like… every happy feeling I’ve ever had but even better! Almost like when I’m cooking or when we hang out or when I have fun with Alphys, or when….” he stopped and cocked his head to the side in confusion. “Papy? Whats wrong?” 

His older brother looked ready to cave in on himself. The despair tore at his heart as his brother ran towards the kitchen. Despite being hurt, Sans ran from the couch while holding his arm. But he already knew that when he would reach the room that Papyrus would be gone. 

XXX

“Why did you do that? I’m terrible! I’m awful! I need another cigarette…” The mumbles continued as he sat outside in the snow. It made its way into his shoes but Papyrus hardly cared as he lit his fifth stick and sunk lower into the powdery white flooring. 

‘I touched, oh my stars I touched my brother inappropriately! I didn’t know it would feel like that! How was I to know…. but I liked it! I actually liked it and I wanted to do more! Why is this happening now?’ 

Papyrus started to claw at his hoodie where the others soul had rested. No one had taught them anything about the properties of souls, so the reaction from his brother was completely puzzling to the elder.

“Its a manifestation of one’s own self, so why would he be.. like… that?” 

As his last cigarette burned up, he got up from where he had been hiding and made his way to the house. “I’m guess I’m going to have to ask Undyne about this… she should know whats going on.”

As he started to concentrate his magic to teleport to the outside of the lab in Hotland, he felt arms wrap around his midsection. His concentration wavered as he accidentally appeared inside the lab with his brother. 

“Papy! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Please don’t leave me again! I don't even know why you ran away!” 

Before Papyrus could pry the sobbing skeleton off of him, the sound of feet rushing towards them caused him to look up from where he was staring at the ground. Both females clothed in their nightwear rushed towards the two with different reacting to the scene before them. Undyne cowered from the anger that seemed to radiate off Alphys’ skin. Narrowed eyes glared at him while clenching her fists at her side. 

“You didn’t make your brother cry did you?” 

“This is an emergency! I didn’t want him to cry I just… need Undyne’s help.”

“W-what d-do you need my h-help with?” She stuttered as she inched closer to the two bony houseguests.

“Its sort of about souls… and…”

“Papy touched mine to make it feel better and I felt really better then he stopped!” 

Both women looked dead from the shock that graced their features. Bloody murder radiated from the buff dinosaur while the scientific fish started sweating. 

“I’m going to MURDER you Papyrus!”

“O-oh my g-gosh!!! T-tell me y-you didn’t!” 

“I don’t know anything about how souls work,” he pleaded as he tried to unwrap his brother from his clothes. 

“That was your field Undyne. I need to ‘snow’, are we in trouble?”

Both nodded in confirmation while Sans just hugged tighter, wondering why he was being ignored.

“Great,” Papyrus breathed sarcastically. “I’ll just go back home then so Alphys doesn’t get me. Call me later Undyne!” 

With another snap of his fingers the two skeletons disappeared. Alphys growled and picked up the smaller fish bridal style as they made their way back to the bedroom to resume the anime marathon.

“D-do you think t-they’ll be o-okay?”

“If they’re not I’ll go over there myself and force them to get better. How about we have another tickle fight? Those are usually fun when stressful stuff happens.”

“Hopefully when I explain later e-everything it w-will sort i-itself out… Alphys! M-my c-chest isn’t ticklish!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted early cause I was tired and kept writing ;.; I'll stop for now
> 
> Also I'm so sorry I had no clue where to end this! I hope it was still okay? I ended up with pervy Alphys cause I thought it was cute <3 Sort of? Lol I'm weird.


	3. Second Mistake

Despite craving for another cigarette, Papyrus chilled on the couch and stared at the quiet unpowered television. The remote rested at arm length distance from him, but he decided to just leave it there in favor of hugging his little brother back. Giving a small nuzzle with his chin, Papyrus encouraged his brother to look back up at him. 

“Bro… plan on letting me go any time soon? I mean I know you just want to get a ‘grip’ on the situation but its getting pretty late.”

“Don’t wanna! What if you leave me again?” 

Papyrus held his brother tighter in response. “I’m sorry… its just that, I did a bad thing. I don't wan’t to upset you though.”

“But… Papy… you made me feel happy!” 

“I…” 

The phone rang, abruptly cutting him off from his explanation. Bracing himself for the inevitable, Papyrus pulled out his cell and put it on speaker for both of them to hear.

“H-hey P-papyrus? Is S-sans there w-with you?”

“Yep, we’re ready to hear what you have to say about all this soul business,” he confirmed while giving the little guy a pat on the head causing the little marshmallow to giggle. The happiness radiating from the other was infectious. 

“W-well… okay t-then… Sans, souls are v-very personal… its our very energy and existence. I-it can also be a p-part of when… uh… someone l-loves another a bunch… but not for family. Its more… p-personal that way. S-so if you find a-anyone special that you r-really l-like, then you can s-summon your soul for them.” 

Sans’ face seemed to wilt near the last part of Undyne’s explanation. Ignoring the disappointment, Papyrus sat up from the couch and gave out an audible exhale of relief. 

“Thats for explaining to him, and me I guess… I’ll be more careful next time.”

“A-any time! Try not to let it happen again o-okay? With any monster.” 

“Will do.” 

After hanging up, the taller skeleton turned to his brother to see him huddled on the couch in deep thought. “You going to tell me why you were ‘hanging’ around outside Snowdin now?”

The lack of response agitated Papyrus as he realized that Sans was lost in his own thoughts, the gears turning in the other’s cranium. After a while, the little skeleton spoke. 

“It’s not fair. I don’t think what we did was wrong. It felt good, not bad. And if I love you a bunch, why can’t we do that too?”   
The sadness radiating from the other was almost too much to bear. Relocating to the couch, Papyrus wrapped his arms around the other again to try and console him. 

“Sans… please don't be sad. We can just do what we’ve always done in the past.” 

A lightbulb seemed to go off in the younger’s head as he turned to face his older bro. “Papy? Since you got to hold my soul, can I hold yours too?” 

Shock graced his features as he took in the request. “Sans! Didn’t you hear what Undyne said? You can’t!” 

“But… but….” he pleaded as he tried to move closer. “You got to hold mine! It wouldn’t be fair! Please Papy? Pretty please?” 

He was never able to deny his brother when he begged with those round shining eyes. “O-okay, but just this once. Be careful with it okay?” 

Steeling himself for what was to come, Papyrus summoned his soul and pushed it towards his brother. What happened next were a series of events that melded together. Sans had taken off his gloves, leaving his hands bare as he cupped the light orange soul in his hands. Papyrus fell back to the other end of the couch, panting widely as the feeling of bone on his soul was almost too much for him. 

“S-sans! Maybe y-y-you should give it back now…. I…” 

Ignoring the pleas of his brother, Sans brought the heart closer to his face before pressing his cheek against it to feel the warmth radiating from the small energy. 

“Woah Papy! Its so warm! I think it looks more pretty than mine!”

Wanting to make his brother even happier, Sans ran a finger on top of the heart as if petting a small animal. The response was almost violent. Gasping could be heard from the other as Papyrus’ eyes quivered and arms reached out to grab the one caressing his life-force. Sans squeaked at his brother clutched him close, pressing his soul in-between the two of them. He could barely make out the words his brother was saying as he buried his skull into the shoulder pads of his battle body.

“So good so good! I… ha….ahhh! Sans!”

The heat flared between the two as Papyrus made no other moves to let go. After a long while the shorter tried wiggling out of his grasp, but only got a moan in response for rubbing the soul even more. 

“Stop…. please Sans… stop…” 

Even though Papyrus sounded happy, the rejection was still present. Sans let Papyrus have his soul back and watched as his brother got up hastily from the couch. A faint orange light stained his cheekbones, but an iron resolved reflected through black eyes as he stared down at his brother. 

“No more… right?” 

Sans only nodded in response, not wanting to speak in case he said something wrong. 

“I forgive you, you know that right? You just wanted me happy?” 

The other nodded more insistently. 

“Well then everything’s…. fine. I’m all tuckered out… time to ‘tuck’ myself in. Goodnight Sans.”

With a final wave, Papyrus left the living room. The small skeleton ran to room and closed the door as softly as he could before jumping into his blue race car bed and curling in on himself. 

“Its okay… Papy said he was okay. Everything will be fine.” 

But as the little one worried himself to sleep, he realized that even though he probably shouldn’t of done what he did, he was okay with it because it had told him something important. 

“Undyne might of made a mistake…. because… it didn’t feel wrong… because…” He had never felt so right as he had cradled his brothers soul in his hands.

With one last look at his wall, Sans closed his eyes and willed for the next day to arrive.


	4. Where Are You?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! My midterms are coming and I need to get ready for them so for a while I won't be able to work on the story. I posted a nice long chapter though so I hope you all enjoy it! 
> 
> Thank you everyone who's been following~ Thank you for the wonderful comments and also the Kudos/Hits/Bookmarks! I luv u all and I just wanna huggle u all! I'll answer more comments though :D Those aren't chapters XD 
> 
> After midterms are over I'll jump back right into the fic! Enjoy everyone!

“Papy! Dinner’s ready!” Sans called as he happily prepared the tacos.

Humming a merry tune, the little guy put the two filled tortilla shells carefully next to each other while his cape flapped in the nonexistent wind. After the events of last week Sans promised himself that he wouldn’t worry his brother anymore. He would continue to be the most awesome brother he could be and stay happy despite his curiosity still burning inside. When he didn’t hear anything from the living room, Sans ran up the stairs with the plate balancing carefully in his gloved hand. A brisk knock on the door caused shuffling to be heard from the other side. 

“Papy! I have your dinner!” 

Papyrus eventually opened the door to his room to be greeted with the shining blue eyes of his brother, eagerly awaiting him to come outside so they could eat together. Taking out the cigarette from his teeth, papyrus sighed and leaned against the door frame.

“Hey bro… can I eat in my room today? I’m not really feeling up for eating outside.” 

Sans just stared, unsure of how to answer. They never usually ate separately, but if his brother wanted to be alone for a while he would let it slide. A hesitant nod came from the other, causing a lazy smile to appear on the other’s tired face. 

“Thanks Sans. I’m glad you understand. I’ll see you later buddy.” 

After grabbing the plate and patting the little guy on the head, Papyrus closed the door gently and left Sans alone. As he sat on one far end of the couch with his plate, Sans glanced over at the empty space that his brother always sat. He made no move to eat his meal. 

The silence cut deep like a knife. 

XXX

“Hey Sans! Where’s your brother? Wasn’t he supposed to watch us train today?” 

Alphys asked as she waved the other over to her with a blue spear. The smaller skeleton stopped his movements to walk towards her. The air became tense as the armored dinosaur started growling under her breath.

“It’s your brother isn’t it? I’M GOING TO TEAR HIS SKULL FROM HIS HEAD AND USE IT AS A PUNCHING BAG!”

“Alphys no! Please don’t do that!” Sans cried as he grabbed her arms and gave her his most begging stare he could. It did the trick as she calmed down from her rage and grabbed Sans by the arms and brought him eye level. 

“Are you going to tell me whats going on between you two?”

“Everything will be okay I promise! Papy hasn’t done anything bad!” 

Reluctantly she put him down and walked off towards the training grounds with fists clenched in rage. “Fine… but if I find out otherwise he’s going to pay.” 

Sans followed behind her, the feeling he felt yesterday while eating alone resurfaced in his chest. As he attacked the dummy with only half his usual enthusiasm, he felt another source of energy near the rock formations. As Sans turned to look though, there was nobody there.

“Papy?”

XXX

After the bridge had been fixed, the two brothers went out to go fix the puzzles that had been knocked around from random elements effecting them. Sans started to notice the distance Papyrus always put between them when walking together. As the day neared its end, a plan started hatching in his skull as he bounded toward his taller sibling. 

“Papy Papy! Can I have a piggy back ride back home today?” 

Despite waving his arms and jumping around, his brother never once looked him in the eye. “Sorry bro… my spine isn’t really doing well… can we just take a shortcut back home?” 

‘For Papy! Don’t show your disappointed! This is so hard though!’ 

Sans settled down and gave his brother the biggest smile he could manage. “Thats fine! I don’t want you hurt.” 

Before he could blink, the two of them had arrived in the living room, Papyrus’ hand holding onto the cloth of his battle suit. ‘He won’t touch me…’

‘Why?’

XXX

“Please come out of your room! Please! Undyne gave us some ramen we could eat while we watch Nabstaton host the monster jam!” 

Papyrus lay against the door and waited for Sans to stop pleading. Orange tears slowly fell down his cheek bones as he reflected on his avoidance of his brother. 

“I’m not feeling too well today… can we just…”

“Don’t do this to me! You always say something like that now… Papy… are you okay?”

Not wanting to cause his brother more distress, Papyrus cracked the door open to glance at the shorter skeleton outside. Sans spotted the tears and moved to go towards the door, but a bony hand in front of him stopped all movement. 

“I just don’t feel really well. I know you want to help but all I need is some sleep then I’ll be right as rain.”  
Something unfamiliar flashed in the others eyes before he backed off and ran back down the stairs. 

“See you in the morning Papy! Feel better!” 

Regret passed through his soul for a split second before it was pressed down. ‘I just need some time… then everything will be better. Right now things are okay…’

‘Is it…’

XXX

Sans felt as if his entire world was being tilt upside down. For days he had tried to coax his brother to stay with him, but all his efforts were pushed aside. The end of the week was the final straw. Today was the day Sans would be completely forward in his plan. Feeling determined, Sans sat on the couch and waited for his brother to arrive. 

He had dressed in his normal attire instead of his battle suite. Hoping to not distract Papyrus with his amazingness, he had folded it up and stored it under his bed for the time being. As the morning arrived, Papyrus walked out of the room and rubbed his head in grogginess as he made his way to the couch. The slouch of his brother’s back looked heavy and painful, causing Sans to freak out. He refrained from asking if the other was okay and got up from the couch to stand in front of his tired sibling. 

Arms out wide, Sans made a move to hug his brother good morning, but a gentle hand on his head stopped him. If there were hearts floating around the energetic chubby bones, they were currently breaking under the others gaze. Papyrus looked like he wanted to flee from him, eyes almost hollow and depressed. 

“Morning bro. I’m going to head to Muffet’s before I go to work, so I’ll go on ahead of you. Maybe we’ll catch a human today? For now I guess I’ll ‘catch’ ya later.” 

His tone sounded normal, but Sans could almost feel the others soul straining from the pressure that threatened to choke both of them. Arms lowered and eyes downcast, Sans sighed and waved his brother goodbye. As soon as Papyrus left the house, he slid to the floor and gripped his arms in pain as his thoughts raced around his mind. ‘Is this…’

‘My fault?’

XXX

The next day Sans planned a mission. It was a super secret mission to everyone including his brother. 

‘Especially Papy… if he knew I was going to do this…. he would probably hate me.’ 

After the ritualistic goodbye to his brother for the night, San’s made sure that he was heading towards the diner before running to the other’s room. He had never went into his brothers room before. Privacy was an unspoken thing between the two, so they both always kept their doors unlocked. Only desperation to solve the mystery Papyrus held kept Sans going.

A gloved hand reached for the knob and only paused a second before turning it and letting the door swing open on its own. 

‘I’m sorry…’


	5. Shouldn't of Stayed Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh golly gosh.... whelp I said I wasn't going to post another chapter till Midterms were over... but I sort of caught a fever and I'm taking a rest... I studied for my upcoming test... then suddenly a chapter appeared.... whoopsie O.o
> 
> Thank you all though for the comments and for being understanding! I guess your patience is rewarded with early contest XD Enjoy~
> 
> PS: I hid an easter egg in the previous chapter that appears here :P Just a little foreshadowing word play. Did ya spot it? XD

The dim light filtered into the slightly messing room, creating an uneasy atmosphere. The door softly closed behind him while he sweat nervously. As Sans inched his way into the area, his inner voice kept screaming at him to leave. Stifling the voice in his head, he made his way to the drawer and shivered as the feeling of wrongness settled into his soul. 

“This is for Papy… I’ll tell him later,” he muttered as he opened it and peered inside for anything informational. Extra hoodies and black tank tops were folded neatly along with some bottles of honey stashed away to the side. 

“Papy! Thats were you’ve been hiding them?” Sans exclaimed while rolling his eyes. 

Making a mental note to talk to Papyrus about it later, he moved on to the look underneath the crumpled bed. The lighting was too dark to see under, so the brave trespasser reached his arm underneath to try and feel for anything. The hand latched onto an unknown object, causing Sans to pull back and bring it to the light. Another hoodie.

“I’m going to have a long word with you when you get back,” he pouted as he moved to get up. 

Suddenly, he paused and stared at the dirty orange material. After an entire week of being separated, the smaller skeleton started to feel that mysterious ache inside. Almost like he had no control, Sans brought the clothes to his face. Clutching it with all him might, he breathed in the mixture of bones and honey and let out a small sob. Small tears fell from his closed eye sockets and leaned into the hoodie as he closed in on himself. Time passed on as Sans moved from the floor to Papyrus’ bed, burying himself under the sheets and hugging the hoodie in this arms like a lifeline. If he had been paying attention, he would of realized the footsteps outside and the reopening of the door as his brother shuffled into the room. 

There was no time to realize what was going to happen as Papyrus moved to sit down on his bed, effectively crushing his little brother underneath. 

“Ack!” Sans yelped as the left side of body was pressed into the cushion. 

Sheets were pulled back at an alarmingly fast rate as Papyrus locked eyes with the intruder. “Sans? Wha… What is…. Why are you in my room…. in my bed… with my hoodie?” .

He should of defended himself. He should of gotten angry and lashed out at how Papyrus had been avoiding him. He should of run away embarrassed for his actions and ashamed of what he had done. 

Sans did none of those things, instead choosing to curl himself up even more and cry. His bones rattled as he broke the gaze of the other and press back into the comfort of the hoodie he had acquired.

“I miss you! I miss you so much! I JUST WANT YOU BACK!” 

The taller skeletons heart broke even further as his precious brother wailed and kept shrinking in on himself. He was at a loss of what to do for a few seconds before realizing his mistake. Moving to sit on the bed, Papyrus took his brother into his arms. The wrong feelings that he feared didn’t even arrive as he lay a hand over the other’s skull, trying to comfort him. 

“Shhh… I’m sorry Sans. Im really sorry. I shouldn’t of… I was trying to protect you from me. I should of realized.”

Broken words made it through the orange material as Sans continued to cry. 

“Papy? Why?” 

Papyrus clutched him tighter. “Lately I’ve been feeling things brothers shouldn’t feel for each other.” Before he could continue explaining smaller hands clutching at his arms stopped his words. 

“Is it… my fault?” 

Angry that his brother had even thought that, Papyrus jerked away and moved to lift Sans’ face up with his chin to make direct contact. 

“Never think that ever again! This isn’t your fault. You're just being, well, you. ‘Tibia’ honest this is all my fault. I shouldn’t of put you through any of that.” Orange tinted tears started to build up on the sides of his eyes but refused to fall. 

“I’m sorry…” his brother muttered as he hugged Papyrus closer. 

“You have nothing to be sorry for at all.”

“But Papy… I think I feel that way too. I’m wrong as well… I’m bad…” 

Papyrus only shook his head and started to lay back until he was against his crumpled pillow, Sans laying on top of him. 

“Honestly bro, your still the Great Sans and you always will be no matter how you feel. I sort of pushed you into breaking into my room didn’t I?”

Feeling like his little brother was going to deny everything, he took him by the shoulder pads and gave his a little shake. “I did. I promise I won’t do this to you ever again. Probably gonna hurt us both if we keep this up.”

“Papy! You told me never to promise ‘cause their easily broken though!” Sans exclaimed, the tears in his wide surprised eyes finally starting to die down. 

A throaty chuckle escaped with his response. “Heh heh! I did tell you that didn’t I? Well this promise is extra special because more than anything in the world, I don't want you to be sad again.” 

Both brothers smiled at each other as the atmosphere started to change to a more light-hearted tone. Papyrus sat up and gave a rough noogie to his brothers cranium, letting off a giant smirk. 

“So great detective, what did you ‘sniff’ out in my room?” 

San’s blushed a vibrant blue and tried to squirm away. 

“Papy! That was an awful pun! I did find out where you’ve been hiding the honey bottles I keep buying though.” 

It was the taller’s turn to blush as he looked away in embarrassment. “I was going to tell you about those eventually. You just don't like it when I drink them all in one sitting.” 

“Its not healthy!” 

“Says who?” 

“Says… uh… says the whole world!” 

The smirk lessened into a grin as Papyrus moved to hug his brother again. “I haven’t heard or read anything about it. But if you think its bad for me, I guess your right.” 

Realizing what Papyrus had just implied, the smaller skeleton started glowing in happiness and buried himself into his brothers warmth, savoring the closeness he had been starved of for so long. 

“So… Papy? What are we going to do now?” 

“Can we figure out that tomorrow? I’m ‘bone’ tired.” 

“Uuuggghhh!” 

With another hearty little chuckle, Papyrus moved until they were both on their sides, facing one another. “Wanna stay here with me tonight bro?” 

A vigorous nod replied back in earnest as he snuggled more into the mattress. The lone dirty hoodie fell off the bed and slid back to the floor to be forgotten yet again as the two lay together for a short amount of silence. 

“G’night Sans.” 

A yawn escaped the smaller brother as his eyes started drooping. “Night Papyrus…” 

Shock jolted through his spine as he watched the small bundle of bones fall asleep. 

‘Heh… he hasn’t called me that in years. Guess he must be more tired than I thought. Crying can do that probably.’

He allowed himself one last look before starting to close his eyes, reflecting hard on the events that had happened.

‘Don’t worry Sans. We’ll find some way to make it through this.’ 

The slight heat from the familiar source finally lulled Papyrus into a peaceful slumber, both skeletons slightly glowing in the dimly lit room.


	6. Whats to Come

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for all the support and encouraging words on this story! I'm really happy I can share this with all of you!
> 
> I planned how many more chapters I want to do, and I have an overall plan for the story ^^ I'm gonna make sure its great!
> 
> Also, Happy Valentines Day to all of you! If you see this early it because I'm going to be very busy tomorrow so I'm posting this chapter now ^^ and also if you see this late I send u all the love right as you read this sentence! *throws love at you*
> 
> Enjoy the Chapter! A bonus chapter will be coming up after this one! Hugs and hugz!
> 
> PS: A little Startrek humor thrown in there? Anyone? Hewhewhew XD

In the corner of a slightly messy room lay the two brothers in the slightly messy bed. The younger of the two stirred and opened his eyes to the sight of his sleeping companion. Giggling a little at the sight, San’s stretched out a free arm to poke Papyrus on the cheekbone. After a small snort and a groggy mumble, Papyrus opened his eyes to be greeted by the shining blue eyes of the one he had tried to comfort that night. As the orange blush grew on his face, Sans glowed just as bright in harmony, creating a brilliant glow that surrounded the two in warmth.

“Goodmorning Papy!”

“Morning Sans… uh…. so….. well…”

To his surprise, Sans placed a hand on his brothers mouth to stop him and gave the other a bright smile devoid of nervousness or hesitancy.

“I’ll just go make us breakfast! We can talk after we get some food in us!”

Papyrus laughed and patted his brother on the head as they both sat up and lept off of the bed.

“Sure. Breakfast sounds nice bro.”

As the other bolted out of the room to go make his signature meal, Papyrus took the moment alone to drown himself in his worried thoughts. 

‘Oh my gosh! He likes me and I like him! We can be… wait… this still isn’t right. Sans probably hasn’t ever been in love before. This could all just be a mistake. Come on Papyrus think of a plan! I know I love him…. like that but I can’t take advantage of him with his innocence. Wait… maybe if we… that might work. It even might change his mind along with mine. I should of thought of this sooner. I must of been too preoccupied.’

After the relatively silent breakfast both brothers stared down one another on the couch and steeled themselves for whatever was going to come out of the talk that needed to be given.

Papyrus took a deep breath and studied the bundle of joy that was sitting on his knees with hands folded neatly in his lap. The anticipation radiation form the other was almost blinding.

“Okay, so… you like me? How much?”

Sans eyes grew brighter as he cycled through his thoughts.

“Like a friend…”

‘Awesome, I’m glad I can be a friend to him.’

“…like a brother…”

‘Uhhh… yeah thats good too I think. Maybe theres hope for us aft-‘

“…and like a lover!”

“Pffffth!” Papyrus sputtered as soon as the words left his brothers mouth. The orange tint spread along his entire body as he tried to recover from the shock.

“Papy! Are you okay?”

“Cough… I’m okay…. just… where did you hear that word?”

The other guiltily looked down at his knees and mumbled his answer.

“From Undyne. All her human text books have something about romance and love and other really happy stuff!”

‘I’m really sick of having talks at this point but I’m going to have to visit Undyne again later today… she ‘batter’ be ready because I’m going to fry her into fish sticks…’

After taking a moment to recover, Papyrus got back to the matter at hand.

“So, do you know what it means to be a lover?”

A shrug accompanied his reply.

“Sort of… I want to always be close to you and make you happy. And one day when I was doing laundry I saw you without your hoodie and I could see more of you… and I wanted… felt like I wanted to see more. And my soul started acting funny.”

‘Oh… oh my… Oh my gosh…. OH MY GOSH!!!!’

“And I was curious too… what you would feel like… I wanted to try to touch….”

Hands waved wildly in the air as Papyrus’ eyes spun. If he had lungs he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be breathing at that moment.

“Okay Sans! Stop! Your going to give me a soul attack!”

Sans fretted over his choking sibling for a while, giving Papyrus time to ready his plan. With a shaky breath, he addressed the other with a slightly nervous tone tainting his brave front.

“I’m willing to try this… with you. To see if this will help. When you really like someone, usually you take them on a date first to see if you like them.”

The stars in those baby blue eyes had never been wider or brighter as the stars formed in his pupils and the air around him shimmered with a magical aura of excitement.

“Oh! I get it!”

“But, one of us finds out that we really don't like the other that way and this was all just a mistake, then we can go back to before and nothing would of happened. Is that okay?”

Sans jumped from where he was sitting and paced the living room with hands behind his back. Papyrus watched with some amusement as he recognized the ‘battle pacing’ his brother always did when he was thinking really hard. As soon as the little guy finished, he ran up to his brother and took bony hands into his gloved ones.

“Okay Papy… Then, will you go on a date with me?”

From the earnest words and hands in the other, Papyrus’ soul felt like it was going to fly out of his chest from how much energy coursed through it. Gazing away from the other’s gaze, he looked up and the ceiling and gulped audibly.

“S-sure Sans. I’ll go with you… just tell me when. I’m free all week.”

In response, Sans started jumping up an down in pure bliss. His blue cape flew into the air with the movement.

“Thank you so much Papy! I’ll do my best! I need to get everything ready!”

Without another word, the little marshmallow ran out of the house in a blur, leaving the confused taller skeleton to his own devices on the couch feeling unsure of whether to dread or look forward to events that were to come.

“Huh… well then…I hope this was a good idea. I should make another stop at Muffets I guess and grab some more honey.” 

As he threw his hands in his pockets and walked out of the open door, he paused for a second and took in the bustling town of Snowdin with a relaxed smile and sighed at the warm feeling that refused to leave his chest. A hand went to his head as he shifted his gaze to the snow at his feet and broke out in a wide grin that he hadn’t used in a long time.

“Heh… I guess I’m looking forward to this after all.”


	7. Its a Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh gosh guys! I'm so proud of this chapter! I wanted it to be perfect and I tried my hardest XD I hope you all enjoy! 
> 
> Thank you everyone for the views, comments, kudos, hits. I've been struggling with a bunch of school situations and writing this really helps me get through. 
> 
> Oh I should mention I do have a tumblr~ http://yaoiaddictionstar.tumblr.com  
> I use it mainly to post fan art for other stories though XD I'm a giant sucker for making fan art ^^ But if anyone has any quick questions they can ask me there <3 I luv u all!

“Sans… can I come out now?” 

“No no no! I’m not ready yet! Stay there just a little longer! I promise I’m almost done!” 

Papyrus chuckled as he propped himself against his door and listened to the shuffling outside. The suspense ate away at his soul as he nervously dug his hand into his pocket for a cigarette but stopped before he finished the action. At the persistent request of his adorable brother he decided to not smoke on their special day. The no lungs argument seemed to matter very little in his case. Breathing deeply, the taller skeleton clutched his arms and shook slightly.

‘I’m actually going on a date with my little baby brother! Never mind! I can’t do this! I got to go out there and tell Sans I can’t go through with this. He’ll understand… right? But at the same time, he’s been really excited to do this with me. Maybe I can make this like a play date? That can work.’ 

“Paaaapppyyy! I’m ready!” Sans called from the living room. 

After making sure he was emotionally stable, Papyrus opened his door and walked out, only to stop and stare at his sibling. Gone was the normal battle armor the other normally wore. Replacing the costume was a bulky sky blue winter coat with fur lining the collar. The cape the other usually adorned was wrapped around his neck in a makeshift scarf, pressing most of the fluff downwards from its weight. Papyrus looked lower and noticed the other’s usually neckerchief was tied in a bow around the handles of a giant wooden basket. Fuzzy light blue slippers replaced the sneakers his brother always wore, making Papyrus question where he had gotten them. Making his way back to his brother’s face, he took in the bright blush and shining eyes that shone as he waited for Papyrus to make his way down the stairs.

“Ready to head out?” he asked sweetly while rocking on his feet. 

“Uh… sure thing bro,” the older brother stated slowly as they both made their way out of house. 

'Gosh he looks so cute... and beautiful... and... who am I kidding. I love him so much.'

While walking down the path, Papyrus glanced to the side of him as Sans lead the way towards Waterfall. Occasionally he would trip from the weight of the heavy basket, making Papyrus twitch. “Sans, do you need any help with that?” 

“Nah, I got it Papy! We’re almost there!” 

The two entered a small area surrounded by the lands natural river. The land had been neatly cleared out ahead of time to be decorated with a worn down picnic blanket and some plates. 

Feeling the questioning gaze on his back, Sans turned and gave an answer. “Muffet helped me set this up. Undyne helped me get these things from the dump. I cleaned them so don't worry! Sit down!” 

Papyrus set himself down, legs outstretched, as he watched his brother set up the lunch of sandwiches and pastries. “Woah bro! How much did you buy?” 

Sans made sure to avoid eye contact. “I sort of… used my Christmas money from last year to help get all the supplies.” 

“Wait. I thought you were going to save up for when we make it to the surface?” 

Sans stopped what he was doing to move over and take both of Papyrus’ hands in his own. the lack of gloves allowed heat to pass between the two, creating a comforting atmosphere. “I don't mind! Your worth it Papy.”

His soul skipped a beat at the reply.

The dinner was finally ready. Before the two could dig in however, A group of Flowey sprung from the ground and started singing a soft tune. The smaller skeleton tried to hid his skull in his scarf as Papyrus grabbed him and gave his head a noogie. 

“Okay bro. What gave you the idea to hire them?” 

Sans squirmed to get away from his brothers assault while giggling madly. “I didn’t! I didn’t know! Muehehehe! Papy stop! The food!” 

XXX

The lights danced around them as they ate. Both skeletons made idle talk of a variety of topics, watching the soft glow reflect from the water. Eventually the flowers left the area to give them space, leaivng a comfortable silence that was only interrupted by the sound of water. After the dessert was finished Papyrus gained a burst of confidence and pulled his brother close. Ignoring the squeak he pulled Sans down with him until both were on their backs and staring up at the top of the cave. The bundle in his arms stopped squirming and moved to wrap himself around Papyrus, nuzzling into his shoulder and giving out a happy sound. 

“Thanks for doing this with me Papy…”

“Any time bro. You didn’t have to go all out on the food but I enjoyed it.”

Sans sat up from where he had been pulled down and placed both arms to the side of his brother, a very serious look on his face that looked out of place on the usually peppy monster.

“Today was a special day. I really wanted to prove to you that… that I… uh…” 

“Sans?” Papyrus interrupted has he tried to prevent his bones from rattling in fear. “Why do you… why do you want to be with me? Forget about the whole 'because we're brothers' thing for a second. Why would you even want to get closer to me? Weren’t we already close in the beginning? I know things snowballed out of control, but I can fix this. I can go back to just being your lazy sibling and we could forget about all of this.”

His right cheek felt warmer than the other. A fact that didn’t register as he stammered out his question. Sans had moved a hand to caress the bone, a gentle smile now adorning his face. For the first time in many years, Papyrus could see the shining white light of his brothers eyes instead of its brilliant blue glare.

“Papyrus….. I love everything about you. I admire how you look…. who you are… I want to make you feel happy and be there for you when your sad. I want to be your special someone. I know your my brother but I don't want to do these things with anyone else. I want to do all of this with you and more. I fell in love with you Papy. I love you more than I’ve loved anyone else.”

He couldn’t stop the tears from falling continuously from his eye sockets as he sat up and embraced the other in a bone crushing hug, all the hidden confessions and denied feelings bubbling to the surface. “Sans…. Sans I… I-I… love you too! I love you so much! I hope I didn’t corrupt you into loving me like this. I just want you to be happy…. please… tell me… is this real?” 

A happy nod could be felt on his back as hands bunched up the cloth of his hoodie. “This is real Papy.”

In the heat of them moment Papyrus grasps his brothers head gently and moves their faces closer until their mouths were close to the other. Teeth hovered with centimeters left before the distance could be closed. 

“Can I do this to you?” Papyrus asked in a raspy voice, trying his hardest to stay in control. Sans answered in his own hushed tone, eyes back to its brilliant blue.

“Of course you can.”

The distance was finally closed as both clacked their teeth together. The feeling spread through both their spines as the love and acceptance passed through their souls. Sans became overwhelmed with the feeling faster, moving to to press closer. The glow of their souls were visible underneath their attire as they continued without pause. 

They both knew, without a doubt that they loved each other far more than they should of, and neither of them believed it was wrong. 

After what felt like an eternity, Papyrus broke the kiss and caressed the side of San’s skull, moving a thumb around rounded cheekbones in adoration.

“That was amazing, wonderful, incredible…”

“I am the Amazing Wonderful Incredible Sans after all!” He exclaimed with excitement, the stars returning to this eyes. The kiss seemed to have super charged the smaller skeleton with a newfound energy that felt infectious to the other.

“And thats why I love you.” Papyrus responded with a grumble of adoration. 

“And and and… Papy! I think your so great!”

“I guess that makes me The Great Papyrus?”

“Titles are for the Royal Guard though!” The smaller skeleton huffed and scratched his skull. “I guess I can ask Alphys to give you a title.”

Papyrus started chuckling whole heartedly as the fear and uncertainty melted away. His normal calm demeanor returned as he laid back down on the blanket. Sans joined him and snuggled closer to the other, basking in closeness he was finally allowed to have. 

“When did you grow so brave bro?” Papyrus asked as he took a hand to calmly caress the others shoulder.

“I’m my bravest when if comes to you Papy! I’ll work on being even braver in the future, I promise!” 

“Hehe, sounds like a plan.”

A soul beat later, Papyrus spoke one more time in a hushed voice, eyes drooping lower.

“I love you Sans. I always have and I always will.”

Sans hummed in agreement as he pressed his teeth against the side of his brothers head. The two continued to relaxed under the artificial night sky, basking in the emotions of the other.


	8. What Comes Next

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh gosh... I never expected to actually get another chapter out XD Things... haven't been really steady with me lately. I'l trying to make things work, but tough times are ahead. Don't worry I still haven't given up on finishing this story! I really have the others planned. 
> 
> Thank you all who are patient XD And everyone who like the story! Hugs to all of you! <3 You're all the main reason I was able to get another chapter out. That extra push of determination. I won't let this become an unfinished story! I've already done that once before and it's not gonna happen on my watch. 
> 
> Enjoy the chapter! Just a heads up the next chapter will be the.... I guess soul stuff? XD Stay tuned for that!

The snow was lazily falling around the corndog stand. Lazy eyes followed one particular snowflake as it landed on the bud of his cigarette. The tiny flame that was left died out, causing Papyrus to sigh and flick the unusable stick to the ground to join the others. As he readied himself to teleport out, the sound of rushing feet from the Ruins gave him pause. A small rabbit child came into view clutching her coat as she battled the snow. She would of continued if it wasn't for the taller skeleton who had stepped onto the path.

“Hey there little girl. Where are you running to?”

The monster jumped from one foot to the other, grinning happily at the local sentry guard.

“Hi Mr. Papir… Papaya… Pa….” 

“Its Papyrus. Don't worry kid, that was a pretty good attempt.”

Her nose twitched rapidly as she impatiently looked around the towering skeleton.

“Thank you so much! I’m going home ‘cause mom said we have a surprise house guest! A monster in the snow we’re taking care of! I wanna try to make them feel better!”

A tilt of his head gave away he was curious as to the ‘guest’ at her house.

“What do you plan on doing?”

“Uh… I’m not sure. I was going to ask mom or pop.” 

Feeling bad for keeping her from her family, Papyrus knelt down to the little monster’s hight and have her a pat on the head with a lazy smile.

“Well, I have someone really special to me who gives me hugs. Those make me feel better.”

“They do Mr. Pap….y…rus?” She asked in a loud voice with eyes growing wider from the new information.

“They sure do. It shows that person you care.”

Wiggling out of the others touch, the girl giggled and spun around in hyper circles before dashing off to the bridge.

“I’ll do that then! When they wake up I’ll give them a giant hug! Thanks again!”

A lazy wave was given in response. When she was out of sight, he kicked the snow in irritation and started grumbling. “Darn it, I could of told a bunny joke. Maybe next time.” 

Decided he needed time to think to himself, Papyrus makes his way back home without teleporting and pondered his situation. The world around him had drastically changed from being predictable to being an adventure again. The light of his life had literally brightened up his entire day. While across the bridge, he gripped the rope in one hand and his chest in the other as his soul ached and let off a soft glow. 

‘Bad Papyrus! Think about that later! I need to get home to Sans and….. uh….’ 

Trying to banish the other thoughts running through his head, he continued until he was across. Looking back, he could see the area Sans had hit a month ago. The small indent in the soil caused his bones to shudder at the old threat of losing his brother. 

‘He… still never told me why he was out here and what happened. It’s been a month though. I’m sure he was just trying to check on the puzzles without me and the bridge broke from overuse.’

The citizens of Snowdin bustled by and the children ran past the hooded skeleton as he passed Muffets and reached the side of his home. Before he could make his way to the front of the house, eye sockets widened as he saw snow tracks leading to his lab in the back of the house. With growing dread Papyrus walked towards the slightly ajar opening. 

As he flicked on the lights, the sight that greeted him caused him to pause and ponder the scene. Old test tubes were smashed on the floor, littering the ground and causing the light to reflect off the bigger pieces. The cloth covering the broken machine had tears and the walls had slight cracks as if something had been thrown at them. With urgency, he ran to the worktable and opened up the cabinets. Everything was still in place. With a gentle pat to the old blue scarf nestled inside, Papyrus closed his eye sockets and gave out a deep huff. 

‘Maybe I just left the door open one day. Sans doesn’t know this place exists. The key….’ 

After teleporting to his room silently and checking the key to find it nestled in his drawers where it belonged, he opened the door to go down stairs and check on the little bundle of energy in the kitchen. 

‘I’ll worry about it later. Right now…. its finally time to relax.’

“Hey Sans,” Papyrus drawled as he moved to stand behind the other, leaning slightly to cross his arms over the other’s head while putting a bit of his weight on the cranium. Sans gave a half-hearted whine and kept stirring the meat while putting on his most serious face. 

“Papy! Not while I’m making dinner! If I don’t focus on it the meat will be burnt! Alphys wasn’t happy with me last time.” 

“Don’t worry bro, I’m sure you’ll ‘meat’ all her standards. Hehehe.” 

“Nooo! Papy!” He cried in despair as he turned around to face the other. With a new idea blooming in his head, he set the spatula on the counter and moved to hug his brother around the waist and buried his face in the large orange hoodie. 

“Y-y-you’re the only one who meets all my standards.” 

Not expecting the comment, Papyrus’ soul started to glow slightly as he hugged the little chubby skeleton back. 

“Fair enough,” he relented with a loving smile. The smile broke suddenly when Sans started nuzzling his ribs and moving his head side to side affectionally, causing his soul to be slightly rubbed. The friction caused him to freeze but he didn’t pull away, desperate to talk to Sans about the situation. 

“Sans… remember what I said about souls?” 

Eyes gazed up at him half lidded with heart shapes adorning his eyes. “Yeah Papy I remember,” he replied in a soft tone. 

The other gave an audible gulp to clear his throat. “I…. uh….. it’s…. I mean when since we….. ugh I’m not good at this!” 

Sans chuckled and just hugged tighter. “Neither am I! I guess we just have to figure it out after dinner?” 

Rapid thoughts flashed through his mind from innocent to sinful, causing the usually cool Papyrus to drop his jaw and stare incredulously at the bundle of happiness in his arms. 

“You better not let that burn then,” he warned as he detached himself to go sit on the couch. 

As the shouts of panic escaped the kitchen, Papyrus put his hand to his chest again and started shivering. For the first time in a long while, he couldn’t wait for dinner to arrive.

XXX

The lights flickered from the slightly dark room. Paws carefully stepped over the broken glass and carried on to the outside world. Hair blowing in the wind, it ran to the woods and scented the air. It’s face paled and its eyes narrowed in genuine fear. It spoke out loud for no one to hear but itself, clenching its paws in the deep blanket of snow. 

“He’s running out of time. Hope that idiot lives to see the next day.”


	9. It Finally Came

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theres a line in this chapter inspired from fillsyouwithdirtysins from tumblr ^^ their fontcest audio for underswap is what originally inspired me to write this.... and I pulled a reference to one of their audio submissions <3 go check them out some time!
> 
> Recently I also joined discord and started talking to some really amazing peeps who also write and draw. I owe them a lot for giving me the courage to write again after having been absent for so long, as well as being amazing to just talk and enjoy the fandom with them. And... time to cry~
> 
> Also.... I'm really sorry XD Enjoy the chapter!

Papyrus fidgeted with the strings of his hoodie as he watched Sans put the finishing touches on the tacos he had made. The entire time he had been cooking, lazy eyes had wandered across the others body as his imagination kicked into overdrive. He couldn’t wait to finally caress his bones and pepper his clavicle in skeleton kisses. The fantasies he had indulged in for the past week couldn’t compare to the event that would happen after dinner. 

Sans spun around, eyes wide in glee as he brought the plates to the table. After getting some water he sat down and rubbed his hands together. 

“Dig in Papy!” 

As the two ate their meal, Papyrus glanced over at his brother. The smaller one was practically stuffing the entire taco in his face, not even bothering to slow down and enjoy the meal like he usually did. 

“Whats the hurry bro?” Papyrus asked after he swallowed and moved for his cup. 

Sans let out a small hiccup and blushed before replying. “I’m just really excited for tonight… and I took a nap earlier so I could… uh… have more stamina for when we do it!” 

He choked violently on his drink. “Papy! You okay?” Making sure to clear his throat, Papyrus looked up have Sans a wink. “I’m fine bro. I can’t wait either.” 

XXX

After the dishes were done and two had migrated to the colorful bedroom. Papyrus sat down on the bed and pat the mattress to beckon the skeleton still fidgeting away from his brother. 

“Sans…” he sighed as he leaned forward. “What’s wrong? You can tell me bud I won’t get upset.”

“I’m just scared,” he sobbed as he shuffled closer. “I know I was excited and I wanted to do this with you. I just don't want to let you down. You know more about this stuff and… I…” 

“Hey its okay. Come here. Its okay.”

With as much tenderness he could show, Papyrus leaned forward to grasp at San’s wrist and pull I'm towards the bed. He wrapped his arms around his brother in a bear hug and tucked his skull in-between Sans’ shoulder and head.

“It’s fine Sans really. Just because I know this kind of stuff doesn’t mean that I’ve… uh… tried anything. Your really the only one for me.”

The sniffled died as blue eyes widened at the realization. “Y-you’ve never? with anybody?” 

“Yeah, I didn’t think that would be cool of me to just go after a random monster you know?” 

Gentle gloved hands pushed away to face the others glowing orange face and soft gaze. With a small chuckle he leaned in the kissed Papyrus on the cheek. “Even if you did that kind of thing, I would still love you Papy.” 

Courage filled his soul as Sans pressed his teeth to the others in a passionate skeleton kiss. The taller skeleton make a shocked muffled noise as they fell backwards and bounced onto the mattress. Bony fingers wrapped tighter around the other as they continued to embrace. Their souls started to glow from under their attire, creating a magical heat to radiate off the two. Sans started to whine as the pleasure grew more intense. A blue tongue slipped out between parted teeth and licked across the others smooth cheek. 

“Papy… can we do more?” 

“Sure thing bro,” he replied as he brought his own orange appendage out between his mouth. Hesitantly, Sans leaned forward and touched his tongue to his brothers, causing pleasure to wrack their bodies. Enthusiastically, he curled his tongue around the others and sucked lightly. 

The reaction from Papyrus spurred him on to run his hands under the ‘battle body’ and caress the ribs underneath. The mewls he received were encouragement enough to roll them over until he towered above the precious bundle below him. He carefully lifted the attire off of Sans, revealing the soft white bones underneath stained blue with the blue of his soul. 

“You too Papy! It’s not fair if it’s just me,” he complained while trying to tug at the garment he wanted gone from the other’s frame. 

Not wanting to torture the smaller skeleton, Papyrus lifted his hoodie and undershirt up in one motion, revealing his entire top half. The pants he wore hung low around his pelvis and revealed the top in a seductive display. Sans stared at his brother and felt the craving in his soul growing at how much was revealed to him. Not wanting to wait anymore, he leaned up and felt along the long spine. Papyrus arched his back and groaned at the sensation, feeling overstimulated too fast. 

“Bro… ahhh… nnngh… slow down a little… heh I know your eager, but… don't want it to end too soon ya know?” All motion stopped. “Okay Papy… I’ll slow down… your spine felt really good though.” 

Love and lust swirled through Papyrus’ head has he moved to pepper the other’s breast bone with more kisses. 

“Heh… thanks bud.” 

Eyes shut tight as the light touches drove him insane, desperate to feel more from the one he loved. His soul continued to shine brightly from where it was encased. Making sure he was comfortable, Papyrus moved a hand to the light inside and gently pulled the blue heart out from its cage. 

“Ahh! P-p-please! Oh golly! Papyrus!” 

His screams continued to grow louder as his brother licked slowly across the side of the pure energy. Blue reside started dripping from the soul and started trailing down his arm as he continued his assault. 

In the throes of pleasure, Sans reached for his brothers soul blindly as his bones rattled. Cracking one eye open, he saw what the other was trying do and stopped licking the heart in his hands to help pull out his soul. Instead of bringing it closer to his mouth, Sans moved to pull his soul and Papyrus’ soul closer together. The energy crackled audibly as both skeletons watched with baited breath. 

“Sans… are you sure?” 

“Please Papy?” he asked, blue hearts adorning his eye sockets that begged for his approval. “I really want to know what they feel like… when they’re pressed together.” 

Papyrus tightened the grip on San’s soul at the implications before easing off. Drool started to drip down his face as his tongue hung loose, feeling the heat of the sudden pressure take over his entire being. 

“Hehe… sorry bro. Sure we can. Do you think you can handle it?” 

Mustering some of his energy, Sans gave a weak nod before letting his head fall back in exhaustion. Papyrus gently brushed the souls together and waited for their energy to sync. Once he felt they were stable he pressed them closer together and watched as the two hearts fused into the other, causing an overwhelming feeling of bliss to encompass the two monsters. Papyrus leaned back down to take his brother’s tongue around his own. Orange and blue saliva blended together as they continued to feel each others bones. 

“Mueww… auugh… P-pwappy pweeeaasee… I feel.. feeeelll so… I don’t…” 

“It’s fine Sans…. gosh you feel so amazing bro. Let it happen. I got you, just let go. Yeeesssss.”

Both souls pulsed in sync as they released their energy. Ectoplasm flew from the two hearts in a violent burst and covered their chests in the glowing liquid. Papyrus kept his brother close to him as he rode out his orgasm, crying slightly from the pleasure he had never achieved with another living being. Blue tears fell from his eyes as he returned the embrace in a strong hug. 

“Papy… Papyrus… I love you… love you…” 

With each word the taller skeleton tightened his hold and shed a few more orange tinted tears. 

“Sansss…. sans sans sans…. I love you so much…always… will… Sans…” 

Both of them held each other as time went by and the result of their coupling faded. Curled up safely in the arms of the love of his life, Sans dozed of and dreamed of a future with his brother and him free in the world above.

XXX

A harsh cry woke the two up from their slumber. Sans bolted from the bed with unnatural speed while Papyrus flailed to sit up and follow the other’s movements.

“What wa’sat bro?” He questioned as tired eyes watched his brother throw on a clean battle body.

He let himself indulge in the sight of bare bones before him until they disappeared under the tough fabric. 

“I heard a cry for help. I’ll go check on them then be back to make some breakfast.” 

“You really want to be the town protector don’t you?” 

“Mweheheh! Of course Papy! Those causing trouble won’t stand a chance! Though… I’m sure it’s just the kids picking fights again.” 

After making sure he was in full attire, Sans bounced over to Papyrus and gave him a gentle skeleton kiss on his teeth while wrapping his hands around the still half naked monster. 

“I love you,” he whispered shyly before pulling away and bounding out the door. 

Stunned from the forward affection, Papyrus fell back into the bed and covered his eyes with his arm, grinning brightly and feeling for the first time in his life he could jump over houses with the energy he felt in his bones. 

“I feel like the luckiest skeleton alive. Gosh he’s too cute for this world.” 

While of waiting in bed, he noticed that his brother had not come back. The screaming outside became louder before cutting off one at a time. A phantom pain shot through Papyrus’ neck, causing him to get out of bed and search frantically for his discarded hoodie. Panic gripped his heart as he ran out the door, leaving one of his slippers behind. As he threw the door open, the sounds of screaming completely ceased as grey particles flew through the cold wind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol I said I was sorry! On another side note, I do have a tumblr @yaoiaddictionstar if you wanna follow~ Love you all! If you comment I throw cookies at you (as well as comment back)


	10. Lost and Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive! Have one of my longest chapters ever! 
> 
> Also if anyone's interested I have a tumblr :3 It's yaoiaddictionstar, I post stuff from time to time and art ^^

He sprint to the front of the town, feeling the dread settle inside his soul at the dust piles on the floor. Sans stood in the distance with a row of bones cutting himself off from the human child directly in front. In their hand they held a plastic toy knife covered in the grey powder of its fallen victims. Upon seeing the taller skeleton enter the scene, the expressionless child tilted their head to one side and scratched its head with a free hand. 

 

“This is curious. Why have things changed Papyrus?” 

 

Sans looked back questionably at his brother, unable to completely take his focus off of the murderer but still wanting an answer. 

 

“I don’t know what your talking about. I should be asking you. Everything changed when you didn’t show up.” 

 

The child twitched and narrowed their eyes further. “I did show up. And you never came. Your brother did.” 

 

“I-I did? Are you sure human?” He stuttered, trying to think back in the past. His head started to hurt, vague memories floating to the surface. The bone barrier wavered, causing Papyrus to dart forward in attempt to comfort the other. His next words however froze him in his tracks. 

 

“T-there was Temmie, that morning I think.”

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

_“OPEN UP!” The high-pitched shriek from the window jolted Sans out of bed._

 

_He rubbed his eyes sleepily and looked to see the cat creature with harsh eyes glaring through the glass. In response he slowly made his way to the monster and opened up the window._

 

_“Whats wrong Temmie?” Sans asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eye sockets._

 

_Her grin widened. “You have to hurry with me to the ruins door! I think theres a human coming!”_

 

_The small skeleton started to bounce around excitedly at the prospect of an actual human falling into the underground. He ran to get dressed in his closet, giggles of glee escaping his grin. “This is amazing! I’ll go get Papy and we can catch the human together!”_

 

_The Temmie jumped through the window and shook her head. “NO! I mean… you should hurry before you miss it. I’m sure your brother just wants to sleep and be lazy.”_

 

_“He always comes with me though,” he argued. After a minute of fidgeting, Sans made up his mind and continued to get dressed. “Fine then, I’ll let him sleep. He’s always babying me anyways, so I’m sure if I do this on my own Alphys will definitely let me join the royal guard.”_

 

_“Lets hope so,” Temmie muttered under her breath as she followed Sans out the window, hoping that her plan would work._

 

_XXX_

 

_“Why won’t you stop?” Temmie pleaded from the trees as Sans greeted the human. The Ruin Doors were left ajar._

 

_XXX_

 

_“Look, Papyrus isn’t here. Give his brother a chance.” She continued to beg as Doggo died before her eyes._

 

_XXX_

 

_“Aren’t you tired of this game?” She asked as they flew through the puzzles, ignoring the hyperactive skeleton._

 

_XXX_

 

_“I want this to end… don’t you?” Temmie asked one more time as Greater Dog fell with a whimper._

 

_XXX_

 

_Sans stood at the edge of the bridge, looking down at Temmie and fiddling with his scarf._

 

_“This is a bad idea. I should go get Papy and-”_

 

_“Look… just go talk to them. I’m sure you can stop them.”_

 

_He remained silent, the light in his eyes going out instantly at the thought. “That human wants to kill us… don’t they.”_

 

_She nodded slowly._

 

_“And you knew?”_

 

_“I don’t know what else to do. Every timeline…”_

 

_“Timeline?” He questioned as the light came back, shining a deeper blue._

 

_Before Temmie could confess, the bridge started to creak. Both monsters turned to face the front as the lone small figure emerged. The dust flew freely in the wind. Trying to keep calm, Sans summoned a bone and handed it to his partner._

 

_“Here’s for if anything goes bad. Just use this to block attacks and run if you can.”_

 

_Taking an unneeded breath, Sans stepped onto the bridge and made his way out to the human with arms outstretched._

 

_“Listen… uh… I know things are scary now, but I believe you can change. Just put the weapon down and we could talk about this?”_

 

_They took a step forward, still clutching the weapon._

 

_“I…” He was at a lose for words. The murderous intent and blank stare shook him to the core._

 

_In an instant, the little kid lunged for the kill. He stepped to the side, hoping to evade the attack that would end his life. The narrow space didn’t help his situation. The bridge became slack and Sans only had a moment to see Temmie cut the ends with the bone he had lent before the two of them succumbed to gravity. His leg became tangled in the rope, pulling him away from the child who had nothing to grab onto. In that split second time slowed down and he saw the closed eyes of the child open wide. Red broken eyes stared back and a hand reached out to be saved. He tried to reach, but missed. The child disappeared into the depths below while Sans slammed into the cliffside, knocking himself out cold._

 

_Temmie watched in dismay. They had hoped to kill the child and force a reset, but somehow the kid must of survived the fall. She stared at the lone unconscious skeleton on the other side and grumbled. “You’re all useless. I guess you get some time to figure stuff out. No clue when they’ll be back though. Make the most of it you smily idiot.”_

 

_> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>_

 

“Your not dead…” he concluded, shaking slightly from the old memories that had finally come to light. “Temmie said something about resets…” 

 

“I control time,” they replied bluntly. “In certain places I can SAVE and revisit that moment over and over until I get it right. Timelines are just times I’ve RESET this world. Nothing changes. Everything stays the same, until now.” 

 

They pointed their weapon at Papyrus, who had started smoking from the stress of the situation and new knowledge. 

 

“He is my judge. He is my challenge. You are not. You’re forgettable and you need to die.”

 

“Hey now, that’s my bro your talking about,” he warned, smashing the burnt out cigarette under his foot aggressively. 

 

Sans stared unbelieving at his brother. “Papy… you don’t fight. You hate fighting. You never…. I mean….” 

 

Papyrus tucked his hands in his pockets and let out a deep breath of shame. 

 

“I’m sorry Sans. Every time the human kept killing everything in their path, and took everyone I know and love, then I’ll fight for it,” he paused and looked up at the human with orange magic blazing from his right eye. “Even if I fail in the end.” 

 

The child looked back and forth between the two skeletons, a plan forming in their mind. 

 

“Fight me now Papyrus,” they requested, wanting to see what would happen if they kept Sans alive. Said skeleton chuckled and summoned a ring of bones and a blaster, taking his stance. 

 

“You can try, but you won’t get far.” 

 

The child jumped over the wall of blue bones and sprinted towards their target. Sans watched in horror as his brother displayed his power. Bones flew at high speed and beams of energy shot from the terrifying floating heads. Buildings were brought down from the power, and the earth seemed to shake from the force. Blue magic encased the human as they kept advancing, trying to jump out of the way of all the attacks. They were never hit once, like they had known what was coming.

 

‘They do know… it's all happened before…’ 

 

Papyrus brought his outstretched hand down with a resigned smile. 

 

‘This has happened so many times… and every time…’ 

 

The child raised their hand high, knife glimmering in the artificial magical light. 

 

‘… my brother dies.’ 

 

Mustering up all the courage he had, Sans jumped in front of the path of the blade and took the hit. 

 

XXX

 

The feeling of getting cut open felt like a light sting. His one health point dropped fast from the impact. The child backed up and stared at the monster who fell to the ground. 

 

“I guess there are some things that cannot change.” 

 

Ignoring the human, Papyrus fell to his knees and held his brothers head in his hands. 

 

“Not again. Don’t do this to me again! Why do you always have to die?” He scolded, petting his cranium slowly and waiting for his brother to turn to dust. Surprisingly, Sans lifted a hand to grasp at the others hoodie. His pupils shook as he forced himself to talk with broken ribs. 

 

“P-papy? In those other times before this? Were we together?” 

 

He didn’t answer right away, knowing he couldn’t lie to his brother about something so important. “No… we weren’t. Just this time.” 

 

Sans coughed weakly. “I’m not going to… ngghh… remember anything again… am I?”

 

 Papyrus nodded his head, tears threatening to fall. 

 

“I wanted to… hah… when we got a human soul and escaped. I wanted to kiss you under that thing you told me about that gives off a bunch of light and warmth.” 

 

“The sun?” 

 

“Yeah… thats what it was. Can we still do that in the next reset?” 

 

The dying skeleton felt his brother jolt at the question. The tortured look on the elder’s face brought Sans a different pain. 

 

“You won’t love me like that next time. We’ll just be brothers. We’ve always been brothers…” 

 

“…remind me…?” He asked as he fought a losing battle. The fire in his bones started to hurt as he kept hanging onto life. 

 

“I can’t do that to you. Sans… I’m so sorry about this.” 

 

Even as his bones started to drip into the snow, Sans was determined to say one last thing. He brought a slightly melted hand to his brothers cheekbones and attempted to give a final giant smile full of love. 

 

“Just… remind me. I love you Papyrus. Never forget… for the both… of us…” 

 

He took one last look at the one he loved before he finally let go. The pain finally left and darkness surrounded him. 

 

XXX

 

The child continued to watch the scene silently, shaking from a feeling that had haunted them from the moment he had encountered the small skeleton those weeks ago. 

 

“You might as well get it over with,” Papyrus spoke as he sat crosslegged in the snow and dust. His free bony hand clutching the blue scarf in a tight grip while he took out another cigarette from his pocket to smoke.

 

“I really can’t judge you anymore. I’m a sinner myself. And besides…” he blew some smoke in their direction and gave a tired chuckle. “… Theres nothing worth living for anymore, knowing that I can’t have any of this happen ever again.” 

 

He expected the child to come finish him off and end everything. What he didn’t predict was for the human to come closer and lean down to lightly touch the hand and the scarf it held. 

 

“Is the happiness worth it?” They asked softly. 

 

Papyrus looked up at the child, not knowing where this was going. “It is to most of us. I remember back then, you were so close to the end. You were happy with everybody.” 

 

“I forgot. I just wanted to… find that answer.” 

 

They stepped back and held their arms out, choosing mercy and knowing what was coming next from the taller skeleton. As Papyrus summoned the bones to end the human’s life, their face morphed into wide crying eyes with flushed cheeks and a sad smile. 

 

“Lets go find our happy ending.” 

 

XXX

 

GAME OVER

 

RESET

 

XXX

 

Papyrus stretched as he heard the banging on the door. 

 

“Papy! Wake up! We need to get to our posts to watch for humans!” 

 

He allowed himself to grieve for only a moment before getting up and making his way to the bundle of energy on the other side. As he opened the door to see his brother very much alive, his soul tightened up and his words failed to leave his mouth. 

 

**_I was the one who accidentally touched your soul_ **

 

“What’s wrong Papy?” 

 

“Its nothing bud,” he said to recover as he patted Sans on the head. “Lets head out and see if we’re lucky today.”

 

**_I was the one who suggested going on a date_ **

 

“Papy Papy PAPY! I went on a date with the human! I turned them down though because I didn’t like them in ‘that way.’” 

 

The pain in his chest increased. He couldn’t understand why everything hurt so much more despite these events being familiar. 

 

“Thats great bro! I’m gonna go to my post in waterfall and keep an eye on the human.”

 

“Be safe!” Sans called back as he headed to the kitchen to prepare lunch. 

 

**_I never gave you space to grow up and be your own monster_ **

 

He slowly made his way through the tunnels. The kid had stopped by Flowey Village for a while, so Papyrus took the time to walk by the familiar clearing by the water. He sat down with some pastries he grabbed to-go from Muffets and looked up at the glowing ceiling. 

 

**_I loved you too much_ **

 

“Nabstaton is so amazing! Look at how the human dances to the music! Some day I want to be a guest star too!” 

 

Papyrus chuckled and leaned back on the couch as Sans bounced around on the cushions. The phantom weight oh his shoulder reminding him of the days they spent on the couch that had never happened.

 

**_I’ll never forget for the both of us. But this time, I’m going to do the right thing_ **

 

“We need to go help the human! Their facing Queen Toriel! We have to go stop them.” 

 

“You run on ahead,” he sighed as he lazily stepped through the snow. “I’ll catch up with you.” 

 

“Okay Papy! See you there!” 

 

The little blue skeleton ran off to the river person, leaving his brother behind. Papyrus clenched his hand and kept on walking, ignoring the impulse to reach out and grab for a hand that wasn’t there.

 

**_I’ll always love you, probably for the rest of my life. But for you Sans, and to make sure I never manipulate you again…._ **

 

They stood next to each other. Everyone around them facing the horizon. The sun illuminated his brother in a way that took his metaphorical breath away. He looked so beautiful in his eyes, the memory of Sans' old wish coming back to haunt his mind. 

 

His hand twitched as if to leave his hoodie and pull him closer, but he denied himself even that much luxury and instead watched his brother take in the world beyond. 

 

**_I’ll let you go_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just remember this isn't the end. Feedback help me know if I'm doing okay~ Thank you all for sticking with the story if your still around or those who just read it all <3


	11. Keep Me Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is finally over....
> 
> I hope you all enjoy the chapter! I'm gonna cry ;.; Thank you everybody for the support, and for reading and enjoying! This was my first fic I ever created for AO3... and I feel so conflicted finishing this story too <3 Enough talk onwards to the end!

The wind battered the side of his face as he watched the clouds roll across the hills. He took a long drag of his cigarette while his eye sockets drooped even lower. The playful screams of human children and his brother could be heard from behind the tree he rested on. 

 

Papyrus gauged his soul and felt how heavy it had become. The nights were the worst to relive his memories of the previous and final timeline. The phantom heat and and magic and love he had spent with his beloved tortured instead of comforted him. Bony hands gripped the grass below and tore at its roots. He decided to try and stop thinking about the situation. He had already made his choice in the beginning and he couldn’t turn back on what had happened. A small hand patted the top of his cranium and a small voice hummed beside his nonexistent ears. 

 

“What did the grass ever do to you?” 

 

Papyrus glared at Chara in reply but refused to say a word. In response, the young human sat down next to him and looked up into the sky as well, a thoughtful look on their face.

 

“Why didn’t you tell him?” 

 

He took another puff and leaned back further into the tree. “What happened before was an anomaly, spurred on by my own actions. None of what happened before should of happened. I just let the regular course of events continue unaltered.”

 

“But what if they love you now?”

 

“He won’t,” Papyrus choked out, feelings finally starting to get to him. “I’ll never let my emotions get in the way of his happiness.”

 

Chara shook their head and nudged a bony arm. “I bet he was happy with you.” 

 

He wanted to argue, but the sound of Sans calling him over ended the conversation. Chara gave a sad smile as Papyrus got up and made his way over to the little skeleton. Not satisfied with how things were, the human searched inside their soul for the lost child still inside them, determined to fix the situation. 

 

“Frisk? He didn’t get his happy ending. Lets change that.”

 

XXX

 

“Why do you want me to go back to the Underground with you?” Sans asked as they paused in hanging up their fluffy jacket Papyrus had bought him when they had moved into their new home. Despite hanging up his old battle body, he had kept the bandana securely around his neck.

 

“Yeah, I wanted to gather some echo flowers for Asgore and Toriel but, I really really REALLY don’t want to go alone. Can you protect me from anything thats still down there?” 

 

White stars blossomed in his blue eye sockets as he bolted upstair to adorn his old outfit. In a flash Sans appeared before the giddy human, cape flowing behind him dramatically. 

 

“Lets go get those flowers!”

 

XXX

 

The caves echoed their footsteps as they traveled deeper underground. The abundance of flowers littered the entire floor of the former Waterfall, the old pathways hidden from the overgrowth. As Chara gathered the flowers, Sans walked along the rivers edge and hummed to himself. He only stayed quiet to hear old memories of monsters from the past. He couldn’t believe they were finally free. Despite the wonderful situation that had happened for everyone, deep in his soul, he felt like something wasn’t right. 

 

There was a clearing up ahead, somehow untouched by the field growing around it. A strange shadow sat at the waters edge and looked up at the luminance on the ceiling. Wary of the stranger, Sans inched forward with a summoned blue bone and narrowed his eyes. 

 

“Hello? Who are you? Why are you down here?” 

 

The shadow shifted and looked at Sans, revealing the white broken face of something that vaguely resembled a skeleton. 

 

_“Ahh… I didn’t except you to actually see me. Hello Sans.”_

 

He paused and lowered his weapon, confused with the strangers words. 

 

“Have we met before?”

 

The shadow sighed and shifted to the side. Whips of black swirling around in a mesmerizing dance. 

 

_“You knew of me in the past. You cannot remember anymore. Once I cared for you and Papyrus when the two of you were very young. It matters little though.”_

 

Sans’ eye sockets grew wider as the stranger spoke. His bones rattled as he inched closer. 

 

“W-who are you?” 

 

It didn’t give an answer right away, waiting for Sans to settle next to him before replying. _“You can just call me Gaster.”_

 

“Okay… Gaster? Why are you here? Can’t you leave?” 

 

Skeletal floating hands rubbed together in nervousness. _“I cannot leave. I am bound here forever for what I’ve done. I am not truly alive as well. I am barely a construct of science and magic. If we were to be honest, I’m truly not the Gaster who first existed.”_

 

Sans tucked his legs in and gazed emptily at the water, not sure how to take the news. “I’m sorry… I wish you could come back with me and the human. Everyone could meet you… maybe Papyrus and I could give you a place to stay…” 

 

A slight pressure could be felt on his shoulder, causing Sans to jolt. Gaster guilty put his ghostly hand away. 

 

_“I appreciate the thought child. Thank you. However, I’m here to show you something important. I kept it bubbled separate from space and time, locked away for my own sake. But for you, I think this is something you need to hear for yourself.”_

 

The shadows moved away to show a softly glowing green echo flower. Curious as to what was stored, Sans moved to touch the petals and activate the words inside. 

 

**“I just want you to be happy…. please… tell me… is this real?”**

 

Sans backed up, shocked to hear Papyrus’ voice coming from within. 

 

“Thats… he sounds so hopeful…Whats wrong with Papy now? Why was he here? Who was he saying this to… Gaster!” 

 

The shadow had started to melt slightly, his presence getting more faded. Sans tried to hold onto any part of the other to make him stay. 

 

_“I’m sorry. Preserving even a fraction of an old timeline is dangerous, let alone letting it cross into this one. You just have to know. Your brother isn’t happy. This is the only clue I can give you to help. Your the only one who can help him. I wish I could do more.”_

 

Pushing back the tears for someone he had never known, he brings himself forward to pretend to hug the fading monster.

 

“Its okay. Thank you for telling me. I’ll do everything I can to help him. You must really care about him. I bet you were an amazing dad. Thank you Gaster.” 

 

The tendrils of black encompassed Sans in the motion of a hug, a broken smile upon his splintered skull. 

 

 _“Your welcome son.”_  

 

As he disappeared completely, Sans returned to the echo flower and tapped it again, making a promise to himself. He would bring his brothers lost happiness back.

 

XXX

 

The Christmas party was in full swing. The lights from their old home relocated to the new one on the hill. Everyone was invited and conversing with one another in merriment. Sans was desperate to give his brother a new gift for the winter. He had Asgore help him in knitting a scarf. The orange bundle was nestled in the bright wrapping paper snuggly, making sure nothing was revealed. He burst into the living room, bouncing from leg to leg excitedly. 

 

“Has anyone seen Papy? I need to give him his one gift he can open!” 

 

“I-I think he’s in the kitchen putting his glass away. H-he beat Alphys in the e-eggnog drinking c-contest,” Undyne stuttered as she helps support the slightly tipsy monster. 

 

“He beats me real good Sans! If the ro’al guard ‘snt disbanded he’d givim a run for em money! Ahahahaha!” 

 

Everyone chuckled good naturally at the statement except Sans, who puffed his cheeks in annoyance. 

 

“Just because he can doesn’t mean he should.” 

 

Dismissing the others, Sans made his way to the kitchen. Under the archway leaning against the support was Papyrus, chewing on a candy cane and grinning to himself. The lazy smile grew wider as he saw his brother come closer. 

 

“Yo bro! This party you put together is pretty cool. Whats that you have?” 

 

“It’s a gift for you! Here you g-“ 

 

Alphys burst through the crowd and pointed at the two skeletons with a gleeful laugh, cutting Sans off from his delivery. “Oh my gosh their under the mistletoe! Chara! Didn’t you say anyone who stands under there together have to kiss?” 

 

“Ya!” They stated from behind the decorated pine tree, slyly glancing away from the death glare Papyrus was sending them. The taller of the two looked down at his brother, eyes not being able to forget the beauty the other held. 

 

“Its okay bro. Its a human tradition after all. We don’t have to.” 

 

Sans shook his head and leaned closer. “No! We should follow the rules. I don’t mind.” 

 

“Heh, if you say so…” 

 

Buckling down on his emotions Papyrus leaned forward and brought the candy out of his mouth. Sans stood slightly on his toes as he moved to meet his brother in the middle. As they met a strange energy was swapped between them. Feeling slightly foggy from the festive drink, Papyrus brought his free hand out of his pocket to wrap around the other. Sans’ eyes flashed as the events from months ago shot through his mind. 

 

Something compelled him to shoot forward when Papyrus attempted to pull back. The present Sans held dropped to the floor as he mashed their mouths together. Their magic swirled and grew as tongues met in a clumsy dance. Caught in the moment, Papyrus embraced the smaller skeleton passionately, pressing closer and leaning Sans’ chin to angle up towards him, soul swelling with the feeling of finally holding the one he loved with his entire being. 

 

The whistles and gasps of the party brought them out of the moment. In a flash of orange, Papyrus disappeared from the archway, leaving Sans to bring a hand to his soul in amazement. 

 

XXX

 

Papyrus gripped his hoodie tightly and clawed at his head in agony, orange magic swirling in chaos. His mind spun in turmoil as the kiss played in a loop. 

 

‘What have I done? I can’t fix this just resetjustresetjustRESET!’ 

 

He knew full well however that there were no more resets to fix his mistakes. He sunk to the floor and finally let his tears fall, not noticing the door creak open slowly or the figure that entered. 

 

“I’m sorry Sans, I’m so sorry I failed…” 

 

“Theres nothing to be sorry for Papy,” Sans spoke in a soft tone, standing in front of his brother crying at the pain displayed in the usually strong monster. 

 

Gathering his courage, Sans brought the scarf out of its wrapping and placed it around Papyrus’ neck gently. The crying skeleton looked up in surprise and face crumbled at the loving gaze his brother gave. 

 

“I don’t know anything and I was going to ask you after Christmas but…” He knelt down and places his forehead against Papyrus while closing his eyes. “… you’ve met all of my standards for a long time.” 

 

Blue eyes opened and took in Papyrus feeling his love swirl slowly. His soul remembered what his mind could not. 

 

“I don’t remember everything, and I know this happened in another timeline, but Papy… would you like to go on a date with me?” 

 

Papyrus chocked and hugged Sans close, bringing him to the floor to sit on his lap. His frame shook as Sans rubbed soothingly along his spine. 

 

“Yes… stars yes…” 

 

For the first time since they had left the Underground, the both of them finally felt free.

 

XXX

 

“Yo Gaster!” Chara called out into the void in their dreams. The swirling energy manifested in front of their floating figure. 

 

“I guess your intervention with Sans worked?”

 

“ _I did not share with him the nature of their relationship. I just revealed that Papyrus was happy before and wasn’t happy now. If Sans really didn’t love him he wouldn’t of pushed forward.”_

 

“I guess Frisk was right. Their pretty smart when they want to be.” 

 

 _“Are they happy now?”_  

 

The worry in his hollow voice was obvious to the two souls. 

 

“Yeah, their happy now.” And probably for a long time.

 

XXX

 

“Hey bud, if we don’t stop watching the sunset the foods going to get cold.” 

 

“But Papy! You didn't hold me when we first saw the sun. No dinner until the light is gone.” 

 

The two cuddled together on the old picnic blanket as the sun slowly decent. The held hands and leaned against each other as they took in the sight beyond. Souls glowed softly in the dying light and hummed in harmony. 

 

“Papy, I love you.” 

 

“Heh, I love you too Sans.” 

 

“I really really really love you!” 

 

“How many more times are you going to say it today?” 

 

Papyrus fell onto his back as Sans crawled on top. Small hands cupped the others skull in a tender hold as he gave his answer. 

 

“Until you know for a fact, and decide this time to keep me close so you don’t let me go again.” 

 

Papyrus leaned into the others hands and chuckled deeply, happiness leaking into their connection.  “Sounds like a plan.”

**Author's Note:**

> Oh one last thing! If you want to comment and give a little feedback feel free! Okay bye! *runs away*


End file.
